Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

The perfect homemade pita bread recipe that you will love. It is warm, fluffy, puffed, and perfectly-pocketed pitas. This recipe is super easy to make, but it does take some time to prepare. And I promise you won't disappoint with the result. As pita bread lovers, we can polish this recipe in a day!

My husband is Middle Eastern so you can imagine, we eat a lot of pita bread! As most do, we purchased most of ours from the store until we started making our own. And let me tell you, we are in trouble. Homemade pita bread is dangerously delicious, and you won't be able to stop eating it.

Ingredients

1 Cup warm Water
2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) active dry yeast
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (If you don't have whole wheat, you can use all purpose)
1 teaspoons himalayan salt
2 teaspoons Olive Oil (Optional* see below)

Directions

1. Combine your lukewarm water with dry yeast. Stir until it dissolves. You should see bubbling or frothy. If you don't, your yeast is inactive, and you can't use it.

2. In a large bowl, add flour (1.5 cups of all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour) and salt. Mix well and then add your liquid mixture.

3. Mix the mixtures and knead. Slowly add the other half cup of all-purpose flour. Knead for about 10 minutes. We are looking for a smooth texture dough.

4. Cover the dough with a clean, damp dishtowel or plastic wrap to keep the dough moist. Let it sit for at least one hour or until dough double in size.

5. Gently deflate the dough on a clean work surface. Divide the dough into 10-12 pieces. The number of pieces will depend on how big of pita bread you want. Shape them into balls and leave them for 10 minutes or so.

6. Using a floured rolling pin and roll out each ball into a circle or an oval (personal preference) that is about a quarter-inch thick.

7. Once each piece is roll out, place it on a lightly floured baking sheet or your countertop for about 30 minutes for rest. Lay them flat next to each other. Do not stack. Cover gently with a clean, damp dishtowel.

8. Bake in the oven or on the stovetop. You want the pita bread to have some brown color. 

To bake pita in the oven: Heat the oven to 475 F degrees and place a heavy-duty baking pan, pizza oven, or large cast-iron skillet on the middle rack to heat. Bake for 2-3 minutes on one side, and then carefully turn pita over to bake for 2 minutes on the other side. You can watch through the door to look for a puff. 

To cook pita on the stovetop: Recommend using a skillet or a heavy-duty nonstick pan. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and wipe off any excess. Working with one pita at a time, lay a rolled-out pita on the skillet and bake for 2 minutes, until bubbles start to form. Flip the pita over and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. 

Now, don't get sad if your pita bread doesn't puff up the first time. It took me two tries until I get the pocket. To make it pocket, it is all about the right thickness, right temperature, and right rinse time before cooking (for moisture). If you don't get a pocket, it is still delicious to eat. 

The oil in this recipe is optional. If you don't add it, it is okay. If you do add it, the pita bread will be softer.

Here is the deal with flour, I like to add some whole wheat flour in this recipe. Whole wheat will add more fiber and other vitamins and minerals. But if you don't have whole wheat flour on hand, you can either use more all-purpose or some form of gluten-free flour (oat, almond, coconut). If you do use gluten-free flour, the dough will not rise as much as it should.

How To store the dough

If you only want to make a few pita breads, you can save the rest of the dough in the fridge for later (if stored properly, the dough can be store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week).

How To store pita bread

If you are unable to finish your pita bread, you can keep it in the fridge or freeze it until you want to eat it again. You can store it in an airtight bag and put it in the freezer. When you want to eat it, you can defrost it and then heat it in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes.

To freeze it, let it cool down and then store it in a zip lock bag or a freezer bag. Make sure to push all air out. You can freeze up to 3 months.